Yo Mista!

I can officially start throwing temper tantrums now that I am in my terrible twos. Two years ago, I wrote my first post on this blog with the intent to post at least once a week. Surprisingly, I have managed to  stay true (for the most part) to that intent. Last year on this day, I wished my blog a happy first birthday and celebrated readership on six continents. Since then, this blog has gained quite a bit of new readers, but unfortunately, I still haven't penetrated the Antarctic blog market. Heh, I said penetrated.  Damn you Antarctica and your super selective readership... On a more serious note, thank you (yes, you) for reading Yo Mista! You motivate me to continue documenting my experiences and mesh them with my own life and childhood memories. You let me get away with writing "penetrated" and giggling about it like a sixth grader, all while simultaneously being responsible for the development of teenagers. You somehow know when to take me seriously and ...

For my life skills class today (a.k.a. "Advisory"), we discussed best practices for studying. I figured this was an appropriate topic since New York State Regents Examinations begin tomorrow. Plus, it always shocks me how my students have no idea how to prepare for an exam. Truthfully, the initial portion of this conversation depressed me and I started to wander down the, "Can I really make a difference with these kids?" route. In order to avoid emotional suicide, I decided to throw a question to the class, hoping active participation would lift my spirits. "For those of you who have passed some of the Regents, what advice would you give to your fellow students? You know, if they actually decide to study." After a few standard responses like "Avoid facebook dawg," and "Look over your notes, like, at least twice," a fairly vocal, but frequently absent female student blurted, "Don't go to y'all significant others' h...

I teach high school mathematics to at- risk urban students in the United States. As I've discussed before (click here , here , here or here ), that pretty much means most of them are not coming to school when it's [ insert excuse here ]. The current popular excuse is, "It's cold outside." Historically, I would have to disagree with that statement, as NYC has really not been that cold so far. Whatever the excuse, the New York State Regents Examinations are next week and that is just bad timing. A failing grade in a high-stakes exam such as the Integrated Algebra Regents will prevent a student from graduating. Pop quiz: How do you ensure at-risk students permanently become statistics? Answer: As a state, require exams whose results determine whether a student will graduate. What also isn't helping the situation is a poster like the one shown below. This gem of a motivational poster can be found on my school's hallway right outside the assistant pri...

I recently came across a very informative and well-written blog written by a 1991 Teach for America Corps Member by the name of Gary Rubenstein. In his most recent  post , Rubenstein discusses the The Equity Project (TEP), a charter school based in New York City that pays teachers a $125,000 salary. TEP been featured a lot in the media over the past two years (check out this and this ). Rubenstein's post (and blog as a whole) is definitely worth checking out if you're a teacher, former teacher, parent or simply someone interested in the world of education.

Yesterday, I was running at the gym and desperately trying to find something to watch on the TV connected to the treadmill. Somehow I ended up catching the very last few seconds of an interview on CNBC with Jamie Dimon , CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase. Normally, I would've changed channels immediately, but the headline under his name caught my attention: "Live in San Francisco from the 30th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference ." Suddenly, I wasn't at the gym anymore: I was inside my old cubicle, drowning in mindless spreadsheets and presentations. I got a bad taste in my mouth. The human mind is a wonderful thing - it makes something difficult you went through in the past seem a lot easier than it actually was. Or it simply erases that memory from your everyday thoughts. I'd completely deleted the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference from my memory, and for good reason too. When I was in investment banking, that conference was the bane of my existence. Back then, ...

For readers of the blog who work in or are generally interested in education, you've undoubtedly heard of Teach for America ( TFA ). In fact, TFA is the organization that prepared me for the teaching profession (as in, I transitioned from finance into teaching via TFA). My experience with TFA was generally positive. I also generally believe in TFA's mission: I believe  young, talented individuals should give back (in terms of time and knowledge) to communities in need. I probably also had a good experience with TFA because I joined the organization to become a long-term educator, rather than simply use TFA as a step-ladder into business school, law school, etc. Most of my peers who went through the training process with me were not thinking about staying longer than the two-year TFA commitment. Two friends of mine (thanks Janelle and Jaimie!) recently sent me two different, yet very interesting and honest critiques of TFA: The first article , "Teach for America: The ...